it's a wrap!

well, our final birthday of 2012 has come and gone.  we went out with a bang.  AJ was delighted with turning five and all that goes with the celebration of a birthday. it's the first year he really seemed to get it.  some highlights are the annual tradition of receiving Dutch candy (and the doling out to siblings with a "very-happy-to-be-in-control-finally" tone and "ok, fine..." approach), the opening of presents, the cake with sparklers (aka rocket blasters) and the party with family....it really was fun.  i loved seeing him bask in the joy of it all...so, before the birthday pics are shared, a couple from two years ago for the sake of comparison...

can't imagine life without this sweet blessing...just one click of a mouse on the above "attachment" and i was smitten forever.  staring at the stoic expression of my son, knowing not of the deep dimples that lie hidden on each brown squishy cheek...or the crazy way he'd add pure delight to our lives. 

 

above is our last update picture we received from the orphanage, October 2010.

 

all things considered, honourable mention goes to a big brother who did a pretty great job that day of celebrating with AJ and being happy for him with his gifts.  your birthday is first up next year, Hudson!

 

 

 

 

so, i can breathe a bit again...always a crazy run~ that August-September stretch, yet i'm never without the knowledge that i'm truly, 100% blessed to be able to have children to celebrate with.  to have them reach milestones and get older.  to have them to shop for and plan parties with.  to host family and friends, again and again, to mark the occasions.  it is all great and i'm super thankful~ and maybe a smidge tired. :)  also thankful for a two month reprieve until December...

gotcha day

the paragraph below captures our thoughts on Hudson's sixth "gotcha day"...an excerpt from a letter i gave him last week, Sept. 11th, 2012.

 

"wow, it seems like just yesterday that Dad and I were arriving in Haiti to meet you for the very first time.  to celebrate your adoption day and to finally hold you in our arms.  we anxiously stepped off the plane in Port au Prince to feel the blast of hot air blow against our faces.   we felt the heat immediately~ just one of the ways we were instantly aware that we had arrived in a different place.  your birth country.  so amazing and beautiful and hard and different than anything we'd ever experienced.  we walked the steps through the craziness of the airport and to our ride, taking the exciting trip up the mountain to finally arrive at the gate of GLA.  we tried to help unload our luggage from the back of the vehicle, but the wonderful staff said "no, let us do this....you go and meet your son!"  oh.my.heart. we were soooo ready for that day.  we'd watched you grow through a year of monthly update pictures we cherished.  we’d waited over two years for you!    when we walked into the orphanage and LaDawn spoke to you and told you we were your mama and papa~ it was magical to see you toddle over and come right into our arms, to even lean in and give us a kiss!!!  so thankful God led us to you, and you to us!  such a miracle and sign of God’s goodness and love and care for the most basic desires of our hearts…."

 

we love you, son!!!  never forget, k? 

happy gotcha day!!

brothers

love these moments.  want to freeze them in time.  rare, they are...which is why i need to catch them in a photograph....so i did!

 

firstborn

the day joelle finally decided to be born (12 looonnnnggggg days late) is still etched in my mind.  lots of little details still there as crisp as if it were only a year ago.  instead of the FIFTEEN years it really has been......in.sane.i.say (think~ whirlwind...)  i was 24 and strangely enough felt completely ready for the massive transition into parenthood.  i was deliriously thrilled with our beautiful baby girl.  not to mention the near perfect behaviour she brought home from the hospital.  for some weird reason this baby went super easy on us (on night four she slept through the night.  i just about passed out in fear when i woke the next morning, sure i'd find her non-responsive in her cradle...).  we pretty much resumed life as normal once we brought her home, and joelle was carted around to hockey arenas, restaurants, parties, etc...we'd sometimes take an after-dinner nap together, all three of us on the bed.  joelle on Daddy's chest, scrunched up and cozy...

it was bliss.  really truly, it was.  especially now when i consider the times i often crave an after-dinner nap....she lived the toddler years much like she seems to be living her teenage years.  she captured each day to the fullest.  she played hard.  she was independent and confident and could often be found in her room with stuffed animals surrounding her while she read them a story.  this was pre-siblings, so you work with what you have, i guess...

if she hadn't been "an easy kid", or if, say, one or two others in our family had been born first, we may not have been as quick to jump on the "let's have a large family" bandwagon...."this is a piece of cake", we thought..."we'll have a house full!!".....hahaha....well, they haven't all been easy-breezy, but the house full is worth the exhaustion and the variety in personalities offers gray hair spice and flavour to the mix, for sure...they are all works in progress, as am i. 
happy birthday to my "carpe diem" kid.  keep seizing each moment.  we love, love, love that about you!!  wishing you a super fun year of growing and developing into just who God made you to be.  thanks for breaking us in to parenting in a way that made having a Basset Hound named Josee seem crazy hard compared to a newborn baby....(so sorry Josee, but the ingested tomatoes from the prized garden followed by the "digested" blowout all through our kitchen/hallway floor and seeping under our baseboard was the last straw....we found you a new family who had strength to take on your issues....R.I.P....)
love ya Joelle!

Layla's turn

yep....another birthday.  perhaps these posts are getting old to some, but when i'm trying to log milestones, this is certainly one of them!  so bear with me....two more to go... :)

sweet Layla is nine.  she is officially into her last year of single digits.  and when flipping through old photos to post there is no shortage of cute ones to pick from.  for some reason she seems to have the most!  i almost picked the photo of her as a baby wearing angel wings, but then that would be a little too funny for those that really know Layla....Layla is lots of things, but angelic isn't often the characteristic that comes to mind.  honestly (because this blog must be honest), she is a paradox of sorts.  she is delightfully sweet, and fiercely feisty all on the same day.  she is loud and bubbly or she is low and pouty.  she is sun and rain, she is salt and pepper, she is hot and cold....you get the idea, right?  consistently, thank goodness, there are some pretty spectacular qualities within this daughter of mine (ours).  Layla is a thinker and feels deeply when others are hurting.  she processes information, asks lots of questions, and prays earnestly for those that suffer.  she cares about her faith and wants others to share her trust in Jesus.  she asks anyone and everyone if they believe.  i wish i had her boldness.  it is beautiful to see, and i hope she holds on to this passion.  she loves to communicate~ with adults and kids alike.  she smiles and laughs lots and is such a little spark plug in this misfit group that is us.  keep shining, my Lolita...

 

these two pictures are at the top of my list....

 

so, this was Layla's year for a friend party and the sun appeared right on cue.  so thankful for that!  it was hot and humid and she played with her friends for the afternoon...water balloons in the pool and on the trampoline added a new element of fun.

 

it's a good thing the cupcakes are all finally consumed~ now i'm back to my healthy breakfast! :) no, i'm not joking...

future jay's pitching staff?? (not soon enough for them, unfortunately)

i don't know what the future holds, but who of us does?  in the meantime, however, it's wonderful to see this young boy dream of a future in baseball.  he struts onto the field with a certain swag.  he loves to imitate the intricate behaviours of a typical pro-baseball player.  he swings his bat like he watches the great ones do.  he spits and throws and mimics the mannerisms he's picked up from the hours of Blue Jays baseball that fill many evenings in our home.  he was precious to watch in action, both during practice here in the backyard and during Saturday mornings with his team, the Wyoming Twins.

baseball wasn't really on our radar for Hudson.  not that it couldn't or shouldn't have been, but it's a sport that never came up with any of our older kids, or even for Jeff or myself as kids.  my parents suggested they'd love to see him try a season and wanted to be involved, so naturally this was an offer that was welcomed and accepted.  so glad they had the idea, because Hudson loved everything about it. 

Just missing this pitch...but great swing anyway...

the season has just recently wrapped up, but without fail during the season Hudson would jump out of bed on Saturday mornings with excitement and energy (well, more than usual, i mean...) to burn on the field.  he loved looking the part in his baseball pants, team shirt and hat.  he loved to wooo the spectators and flash his smile and give the nod to the fans.....he loved being the show.  and why not?? 

because there on the field he is focused and growing and developing.  growing in more than the expected and obvious ways of receiving and hitting a pitch, catching a ball and tagging a runner, etc....but learning to play as part of a team, to receive instruction from a coach in a fun and positive environment, to focus out field and follow the rules of the game, to harness his energy for times of appropriate outlet....

it was really all good, and i'm so glad he's experienced baseball this summer.....so while it isn't exactly the big leagues yet, it's been really big to Hudson, and that's pretty priceless...

adam

what i wouldn't give for just one more day of Adam like this....not because now, being 11, isn't wonderful, because it is, but the squishy cuteness of age three is pretty amazing, and even though i really feel like i savoured those days they passed in a whirlwind like a thunderstorm that blows through on a summer day.  here and gone before you know it. 

yes, Adam was next in line for the string of August/September birthdays and it was a joy to celebrate him this week.  as i told him, more than ever he's reminding me of his dad.  he makes me laugh out loud so unexpectedly.  he has a heart of compassion and this is especially evident in his gentleness with small children.  he would be a fantastic primary teacher~ if i didn't think he'd be an even better engineer, that is...he is such a thinker and always inspiring me with the way he can assemble or disassemble something or problem solve when something isn't working right.  he is great with his youngest brother (especially) and i love to watch him play in the pool with AJ or read him stories.  good for my heart...can't wait to see what the future holds for him.  Adam Jeffrey~ we love you loads!!!  hope your birthday was fun and your upcoming year even better!

oh, and nice "six packs" boys.  i can kind of make them out...maybe i just needed to zoom in a bit more...